Slalom in Adelboden
Feller wins by a narrow margin ahead of McGrath – Rochat and Aerni in the top ten
Manuel Feller wins the World Cup slalom in Adelboden for the first time. The Austrian triumphed ahead of the Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath and compatriot Dominik Raschner. The Swiss don’t make it all the way to the top, but they score points with five riders in the top 15, led by Marc Rochat in 5th place.
Manuel Feller celebrates his second slalom victory this season in Adelboden.
Sven Thomann/Freshfocus/Blick
After the first run, Norway was flirting with a second double victory in the slalom at Chuenisbärgli; Alexander Steen Olsen was in the lead ahead of Atle Lie McGrath, with Adelboden specialist Henrik Kristoffersen lurking in 6th place with a manageable gap. In the end, an Austrian cheered from the top of the podium in the third slalom of the winter.
While Steen Olsen slipped in the foggy upper part of the track and Lie McGrath didn’t see green on the scoreboard by two hundredths at the finish, Manuel Feller made up four places in the second round and celebrated his second victory of the season as the new discipline leader. In addition, 29-year-old Dominik Raschner with start number 35 achieved his first podium finish in a classic discipline.
The Austrians thus underlined their supremacy in Adelboden. Feller is the 11th time an Austrian has won the slalom, which has been held since 2000. The beaming winner referred to the young, wild Norwegians on SRF and said: “I knew that I had to push myself to the limit. I did that, luckily the hundredths were on my side in the end.”
Even with their great success, Dominik Raschner (left) and Manuel Feller (right) don’t forget their injured team leader Marco Schwarz.
Giovanni Auletta / AP
Rochats grosser Tag
The Swiss didn’t make it all the way to the top, but they scored points with five drivers in the top 15. Marc Rochat led the strong team in fifth. For the 31-year-old from Vaud, who was advised to retire after 16 failures in 20 slaloms between 2017 and 2019, it is the second-best result in the World Cup after fourth place last year in Soldeu. «This is a big day for me. I’m extremely proud,” said Rochat, who was 21 hundredths short of his first podium finish.
Luca Aerni also impressed in front of the home crowd. In eighth place, the 2017 Bern combined world champion was as far ahead as he was last two years ago. Daniel Yule and Loïc Meillard, who had improved significantly after a braked first run, followed in 10th and 12th place. Ramon Zenhäuser, the best representative of Swiss-Ski in eighth place after half the time, was ultimately only the fifth best of his team in fourteenth place.
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2024-01-07 13:44:58
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